Liberty League leaders RPI women's soccer downs Clarkson 2-0

Sunday, October 14, 2012 - 2:18 am

Potsdam, NY - With two scores on the first two shots on goal, Rensselaer struck early and held on to defeat the Clarkson University Women's Soccer team 2-0 in Liberty League action Saturay afternoon at Hantz Turf Field.

The Golden Knights fell to 5-6-2 overall and 0-5-1 in conference games while Rensselaer remained unbeaten in league contests at 5-0 and moved to 9-4 overall. Clarkson next hosts SUNY Canton at 6:00 pm Tuesday evening.

Rensselaer took little time getting on the scoreboard with its first goal coming at the 2:03 mark of the first half. Nikki Goodsell sent a simple cross into the penalty box and found the foot of Shannon Maguire, who chipped the ball over the head of Clarkson keeper Kim Kenline (Akron, NY) with one touch for her third goal of the season. Only four minutes later, Rensselaer struck again, this time off a corner kick. The ball sailed into the box and Clarkson was unable to clear it after a couple of chances, and Taylor Korytko gathered in a deflection up close to tally an unassisted marker at 6:03 for her fifth goal of the year.

What could have quickly turned into a lopsided game ended up more competitive than the first two minutes. Though Clarkson didn't get any chances on the Rensselaer frame, the Golden Knights defense did an admirable job of limiting the Engineers' chances throughout the first half as RPI had only three more shots in the final 39 minutes. The opportunities came more often in the second half for the Engineers, but Kenline and Steph Lynch (Baldwinsville, NY), who came on in relief for the felled Kenline late in the second half, kept the score 2-0 for the remainder of the contest.

RPI finished with a 14-2 edge in shots and a 2-1 lead in corner kicks. Kenline made seven saves for the Knights and Lynch added one more stop in her nine-plus minutes of action. Steph Vargas earned the shutout for Rensselaer, but did not have to make a save.